Methods of determining access categories and/or establishment causes and related devices

ABSTRACT

Methods of operating a user equipment UE are discussed. An access category may be determined from a plurality of access categories and at least one access identity may be determined from a plurality of access identities to be applied for an access attempt. An establishment cause may be determined for the access attempt based on the access category determined from the plurality of access categories and based on the at least one access identity from the plurality of access identities. A connection request message for the access attempt may be transmitted to a wireless communication network, with the connection request message including the establishment cause determined based on the access category and based on the at least one access identity. Related devices are also discussed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/957,278, which is 35 U.S.C. § 371 national stage application of PCTInternational Application No. PCT/IB2019/050325 filed on Jun. 23, 2020,which in turn claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/618,806, filed on Jan. 18, 2018, the disclosures and content of whichare incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to communications, and more particularly,to wireless communications and related methods and devices.

BACKGROUND

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according totheir ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless adifferent meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context inwhich it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus,component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referringto at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means,step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methodsdisclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact orderdisclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following orpreceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step mustfollow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodimentsdisclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, whereverappropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may applyto any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features andadvantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from thefollowing description.

When performing access to a wireless communication system, a userequipment (UE) must signal to the network that it wants to acquirecommunication opportunities. There are many schemes for how this can bedone. For example, a UE can utilize air-interface resources (e.g.,times, frequencies) to send a short message that would indicate to thenetwork that a UE wants to communicate. Further details about a certaincommunication need can then occur in subsequent communication.

The event which triggers a UE to perform a request to access a wirelesscommunication system may, for example, be: a need for an application,such as a software module in the UE, to transmit uplink user data,and/or receive downlink user data; a need to exchange signaling messageswith a network node; or alternatively, a combination of both.

Consider the simplified wireless network 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 ,with a UE (102), which communicates with an access node (104), which inturn is connected to a network node (106).

For wireless communication systems pursuant to 3GPP EPS/LTE standardspecifications, the access node 104 corresponds typically to an EvolvedNodeB (eNB) and the network node 106 corresponds typically to either aMobility Management Entity (MME) and/or a Serving Gateway (SGW).However, these examples are for illustrative purposes, and access node104 and network node 106 may correspond to any network node suitable forperforming the required functionality.

In 3GPP LTE, a request for communication, when the UE is in idle mode,also known as RRC_IDLE state, is performed by initiating a random accessprocedure, followed by an RRC Connection Establishment procedure. Therequest for communication may be triggered, for example, by a request tosetup a new data session, an outgoing voice call, answer to paging, anapplication in the UE needs to send a data packet belonging to analready establish data session, or a NAS signaling procedure such aTracking Area Update. This trigger is first identified by the Non-AccessStratum layers in the UE which forwards a request to the Radio ResourceControl (RRC) layer in the UE, which in turn initiates the actualprocedure to perform random access and RRC connection establishment.

Please see FIG. 2 for a high level flow diagram showing random accessand RRC connection establishment. This sequence starts with atransmission of a Random Access Preamble (201), also known as “msg1”, onspecifically allocated channels or resources. This random accesspre-amble is, when received by a base station or eNB, followed by arandom access response (202), also known as “msg2”, that includes anallocation of resources for continued signaling. In this case, thecontinued signaling is the RRC Connection Request (203), also known as“msg3” which is the first message in the RRC Connection Establishmentprocedure.

The RRC Connection Request (203) message typically includes, for examplean identity of the UE or some other reference, such as a random number,which is used in the response from the network in RRC Connection Setup(204) to refer to this particular request for a connection.

FIG. 2 illustrates random access and RRC connection establishment in3GPP LTE. As is easily realized, an access attempt will cost airinterface resources. Both the initial message (201, Preamble) as well asresources for further signalling (202-205) will add to the wirelessnetwork load, simply to configure and setup communication resources forsubsequent data transfer. It should be noted that even furthercommunication is needed with network entities before any communicationcan take place, but these steps are omitted from FIG. 2 .

In some cases, such as during high load, the network may deny therequest for an RRC connection by the UE. In such a case, it may send anRRC Connection Reject message instead of the RRC Connection Setup (204).When the UE receives such a rejection it will stay in idle mode,possibly during a time indicated by the reject message before performinga new request. In order for the network to be able to prioritize betweenrequests for RRC connection, for example, to give priority to emergencycalls compared to ordinary calls, the RRC Connection Request message(203) also contains a cause, or reason, for establishing the connection,what is in 3GPP defined as the RRC Establishment Cause. In LTE, the UEselects an RRC Establishment Cause value among seven specified values(these as specified in 3GPP TS 36.331): emergency, highPriorityAccess,mt-Access, mo-Signalling, mo-Data, delayTolerantAccess, mo-VoiceCall.Which RRC Establishment Cause value that is selected by the UE (i.e.,the trigger and/or NAS signalling procedure) is specified in 3GPP TS24.301 Annex D.

Going forward, additional establishment cause values may be desired.Accordingly, there may be a demand for more efficient ways to determineand/or communicate establishment cause values and/or relatedinformation.

SUMMARY

According to some embodiments of inventive concepts, methods may beprovided to operate a user equipment UE. An access category may bedetermined from a plurality of access categories and at least one accessidentity may be determined from a plurality of access identities to beapplied for an access attempt. An establishment cause may be determinedfor the access attempt based on the access category determined from theplurality of access categories and based on the at least one accessidentity from the plurality of access identities. A connection requestmessage for the access attempt may be transmitted to a wirelesscommunication network, with the connection request message including theestablishment cause determined based on the access category and based onthe at least one access identity.

Determining an establishment cause according to some embodiments ofinventive concepts may reduce a size of information for an establishmentcause that is included in a connection request message and/or mayfacilitate operator defined access categories.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this application, illustrate certain non-limiting embodiments ofinventive concepts. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a wireless network;

FIG. 2 is a message diagram illustrating random access and RRCconnection establishment in 3GPP LTE;

FIG. 3 is a table illustrating ACDC barring information in LTE;

FIG. 4 illustrates planes in a communication system;

FIG. 5 illustrates domains and strata in a 3GPP system;

FIG. 6 illustrates protocol layers in user plane and control plane of a3GPP system;

FIGS. 7A and 7B provide a table illustrating access categories for 5Gunified access control;

FIGS. 8A and 8B provide a table illustrating access identities for 5GUnified access control;

FIG. 9 is a message diagram illustrating procedures for unified accesscontrol;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating NAS-AS interaction in the UE forunified access control;

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of performing aconnection request according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating AS-NAS interaction used to determinean establishment cause according to some embodiments of inventiveconcepts;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating operations used to determine anappropriate access category according to some embodiments of inventiveconcepts;

FIG. 14 is a is a flow chart illustrating operations used to map anappropriate access category and access identities to an establishmentcause according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 15 is a table illustrating examples of mapping appropriate accesscategory values to establishment causes according to some embodiments ofinventive concepts;

FIG. 16 illustrates a table provided in the UE that may be used toconfigure access categories according to operator-specific accesscategory rules according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 17 illustrates a table provided in the UE that may be used toconfigure establishment causes according to operator-specific accesscategory rules according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 18 illustrates a table provided in the UE that may be used toconfigure establishment causes according to operator-specific accesscategory rules according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless network includingwireless devices (also referred to as UEs) and according to someembodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a UE according tosome embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 21 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environmentaccording to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram illustrating a telecommunication networkconnected via an intermediate network to a host computer according tosome embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram illustrating a host computercommunicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partiallywireless connection according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 24 is a flow chart illustrating methods implemented in acommunication system including a host computer, a base station and auser equipment according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 25 is a flow chart illustrating methods implemented in acommunication system including a host computer, a base station and auser equipment according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 26 is a flow chart illustrating methods implemented in acommunication system including a host computer, a base station and auser equipment according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 27 is a flow chart illustrating methods implemented in acommunication system including a host computer, a base station and auser equipment according to some embodiments of inventive concepts; and

FIG. 28 is a flow chart illustrating operations of a UE according tosome embodiments of inventive concepts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Under certain circumstances, it may be desirable to prevent UEs fromrequesting the RRC connection, i.e., the whole procedure shown in FIG. 2. For example, it may be desirable to prevent the request in case of adisaster, network maintenance, or an extreme overload situation likeextreme radio resource congestion or extreme shortage of processingcapabilities. In such circumstances, a network may wish to reduceoverload by preventing access attempts to, e.g., a cell. Also, in thesecases, the network may need to prioritize between specific users and/orservices during overload situations.

To cope with these circumstances and prevent access attempts, thenetwork may employ what is in 3GPP referred to as access control. AccessClass Barring (ACB) is an example of one such control. In short, accessbarring is about preventing or making it less likely that a UE willattempt to send an access request (e.g., to initiate the sequence aboveby sending a preamble, 201). In this way, the total load in the systemcan be controlled. The network may for example divide UEs or differentreasons for why a UE wants access into different classes, or categoriesand dependent on this, the network can differentiate and make it lesslikely that, e.g., certain UE's and/or certain events trigger accessrequests. For example, a given UE may belong to a certain access classand the network may communicate, via broadcasted system information,that certain classes at certain instances are barred, i.e., not allowedto make access, or allowed to make access with a lower probability ifnot barred altogether. When a UE receives this broadcasted systeminformation, if it belongs to a barred access class, it may result inthat a UE will not send an access request. There are multiple variantsof access barring mechanisms specified for LTE, a few of which arelisted below:

-   -   1. Access Class Barring as per 3GPP Rel-8: In this mechanism, it        is possible to bar all access requests from a UE. Normal UEs in        Access Class (AC) range 0-9 are barred with a probability        factor, also referred to as barring factor and a timer, also        referred to as barring duration, whereas specific classes can be        controlled separately. Besides the normal classes 0-9,        additional classes have been specified to control the access to        other type of users, e.g., emergency services, public utilities,        security services, etc.    -   2. Service Specific Access Control (SSAC): The SSAC mechanism        allows a network to prohibit Multi-Media Telephony (MMTel)-voice        and MMTel-video accesses from a UE. The network broadcasts        barring parameters (parameters similar to ACB) and a barring        algorithm that is similar to ACB (barring factor and random        timer). An actual decision if access is allowed is done in the        IP Multi-Media Subsystem (IMS) layer of a UE.    -   3. Access control for Circuit-Switched FallBack (CSFB): The CSFB        mechanism allows a network to prohibit CSFB users. A barring        algorithm used in this case is similar to ACB.    -   4. Extended Access Barring (EAB): The EAB mechanism allows a        network to prohibit low priority UEs. Barring is based on a        bitmap in which each access class (AC 0-9) can be either barred        or allowed.    -   5. Access class barring bypass: The ACB mechanism allows        omitting access class barring for IMS voice and video users.    -   6. Application specific Congestion control for Data        Communication (ACDC) barring: ACDC allows barring of traffic        from/to certain application. In this solution, applications are        categorized based on global application identification (ID) (in        Android or iOS). The network broadcasts barring parameters        (barring factor and timer) for each category.)

All the variants of access control operate for UEs in idle mode prior torandom access and RRC connection establishment. SSAC additionally can beapplied also for connected mode UEs, i.e., UEs in RRC_CONNECTED state inLTE.

In LTE, before a UE performs access towards an access node, it needs toread certain system information that is usually broadcast by the accessnode 104. The system information describes how access should beperformed to initiate communication between the UE (102) and the accessnode (104). Part of this system information may be information relatedto access barring. This barring information is usually broadcasted inthe access network 100 and there can be different barring information indifferent cells or areas. Usually, one access node (104) will transmitits own barring information. The barring information may be arranged ina way such that it includes a set of access categories [1 . . . m] andfor each category, information elements containing a barring factor anda barring time, for example as specified in 3GPP TS 36.331 v.14.1.0,2016-12 (see FIG. 3 below, illustrating an example of ACDC barringinformation in LTE).

This barring information per access category will be used by the UEattempting access and it is a way for the access node to limit andprioritize certain accesses over other.

3GPP System architectures are discussed below. FIG. 4 illustrates planesin a communication system. A communication system, such as a 3GPPsystem, is normally functionally divided vertically into User Plane 401,Control Plane 402 and Management Plane 403 as illustrated in FIG. 4 .This division allows independent scalability, evolution and flexibledeployments. The user plane 401, which carries the user data traffic,contains functions and protocols related to user data transfer such assegmentation, reassembly, retransmission, multiplexing, ciphering and soforth. In the control plane 402, which carries signalling traffic, wefind the protocols and functions needed to setup, release, control andconfigure the user plane. The control plane 402 also contains functionsand protocols related to for example UE mobility, UE authentication,control of user sessions and bearers (also known as service data flowsor QoS flows). In the Management plane 403, which carries administrativetraffic, we find for example operations and maintenance (O&M) andprovisioning functions. There exists normally no distinct divisionbetween control plane 402 and management plane 403 but typically thecontrol plane 402 operates in a faster time scale (e.g., seconds) thanthe management plane 403 (e.g. hours). Then the User Plane 401 operatestypically in the fastest time scale (e.g., milliseconds).

FIG. 5 illustrates another division of the 3GPP system, into domains andstrata. There are a number of domains, most important are the UserEquipment (UE) 102, the Access Network (AN) 502 and the Core Network(CN) 503. It needs to be understood that typically the UE 102, AN 502,and CN 503 all contain User Plane 401, Control Plane 402 and ManagementPlane 403 functions.

The User Equipment (UE) 102 is a device allowing a user access tonetwork services. It is typically a wireless terminal, such as asmartphone, equipped with a User Services Identity Module (USIM). Thelatter contains the credentials in order to unambiguously and securelyidentify itself. The functions of the USIM may be embedded in astandalone smart card, but could also be realized, e.g., as software ina software module.

The Access Network (AN) 502 (also known as the Radio Access Network,RAN) contains access nodes, or base stations, also known as eNBs, gNBs,which manage the radio resources of the access network and provides theUE 102 with a mechanism to access the core network 503. The AccessNetwork 502 is dependent of the radio access technology used in thewireless interface between the UE 102 and Access Network 502. Thus, wehave different flavours of access network 502 for different radio accesstechnologies, such as E-UTRAN supporting LTE or E-UTRA radio accesstechnology and NG-RAN supporting New Radio (or 5G) type of radio accesstechnology.

The Core Network (CN) 503 consists of network nodes which providesupport for the network features and telecommunication services, such asthe management of user location information, control of network featuresand services, the switching and transmission of signalling and userdata. The core network 503 also provides the interface towards theExternal Network 507. There are different types of core networks 503,for different 3GPP system generations. For example, in 4G, also known asthe Evolved Packet System (EPS), we find the Evolved Packet Core (EPC).Developed as part of the 5G System (5GS) we find the 5G Core (5GC).

Moreover, the core network 503 is access-agnostic and the interfacebetween the access network 502 and core network 503 enables integrationof different 3GPP and non-3GPP access types. For example, an AccessNetwork 502 (also known as E-UTRAN) supporting LTE or E-UTRA radioaccess technology as well as an access network (also known as NG-RAN)supporting New Radio type of radio access technology can both beconnected to a 5G type of core network 503 (also known as 5GC).

The External Network 507 represents here a network outside of the 3GPPdomain, such as the public Internet.

As seen in FIG. 5 , 3GPP system is also horizontally divided into theaccess Stratum (AS) 504 and Non-Access Stratum (NAS) 505 reflecting aprotocol layering hierarchy. In the AS 504 we find functions which arerelated to the wireless portion of the system such as transport of dataover the wireless connection and managing radio resources. The AS 504typically contains functions in the access network 502 and the dialogue(using corresponding protocols) between the UE 102 and the accessnetwork 502. In the NAS 505, which can be seen as higher in the protocollayering hierarchy than AS 504, we find the functions which are notdirectly dependent on the radio access technology and typically thefunctions in the core network and the dialogue (using correspondingprotocols) between the UE 102 and the core network 503.

In FIG. 5 , also the Application 506 is illustrated above NAS 505. TheApplication 506 may contain parts in the UE 102, the core network 503and the External network 507.

FIG. 6 illustrates protocol layers in user plane and control plane of a3GPP system. The control plane 402 and User Plane 401 of the AccessStratum 504 and Non-Access Stratum 505 are further divided into protocollayers. As illustrated in FIG. 6 , in the Access Stratum (AS) 504, thereis one protocol layer in the control plane 402, namely the RadioResource Control (RRC) layer 601. As the RRC layer 601 is part of theAccess Stratum 504, it is dependent on the type of radio accesstechnology used between the UE 102 and Access Network 502. Thus, thereare different flavours of RRC 601 for different radio accesstechnologies, e.g. one type of RRC layer 601 for each of UTRA, E-UTRAand New Radio type of radio access technologies.

Further, in the Access Stratum 504 there are also a number of protocollayers in the user plane 401, such as the Physical (PHY) layer 611,Medium Access Control (MAC) layer 612, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer613 and Packet Data Convergence Control (PDCP) layer 614. For New Radio,we also expect a new layer in the AS 504, above PDCP 614, here denoted“NL” (New Layer) 615. All protocol layers, both in the User Plane 401and Control Plane 402 of the Access Stratum 504 are terminated in theAccess Network 502 in the network side, such as the eNB or the gNB.

In the Non-Access Stratum (NAS) 505, there are multiple protocol layersin the control plane 402. In EPS (Evolved Packet System, also known as4G or LTE) these layers are known as EMM (EPS Mobility Management) 603and ESM (EPS Session Management) 604. In the SG system, we will findprotocol layers performing the equivalent functions of EMM 603 and ESM604, such as the Connection Management (CM) 605.

Further, in the Non-Access Stratum (NAS) 505, there are multipleprotocol layers in the user plane 401, such as the Internet Protocol(IP) 616.

The Application 506 resides above the NAS 505, and interacts with theuser plane 401 and in some cases also the control plane 402.

Unified Access Control in 3GPP is discussed below.

An ongoing evolution of the access control mechanisms, in particular for5th generation cellular standards according to 3GPP, is to gather theexisting access control mechanisms into one single mechanism that can beconfigurable and adaptable to various network operator preferences. Ithas thus been agreed that 5G will include a single access controlframework, what is known as Unified access control.

Unified access control will apply to UEs accessing 5G Core via NR (NewRadio) or E-UTRA/LTE. Moreover, Unified access control is applied in allUE states, whereas for LTE, with one exception (SSAC), the accesscontrol mechanisms only apply for idle mode UEs.

Unified access control for 5G is currently being specified in 3GPP TS22.261 (5G service requirements), 3GPP TR 24.890 (5G system core networkCT1 aspects), 3GPP TS 38.300 (RAN stage 2) and 3GPP TS 38.331 (RRCprotocol specification).

According to the solutions being discussed in 3GPP, the access node(e.g., gNB or eNB) indicates barring condition for each cell usingaccess barring parameters to UEs, by system information broadcast in theRRC layer within the access stratum (AS).

Further, in the UE, there is a process which detects what is known as“access attempts”. An example of an access attempt is a request to setupa new session, such as a new PDU session or an MMTEL Voice call. Eachdetected access attempt is mapped onto an access category.

In TS 22.261, the access categories are specified in FIG. 7 whichillustrates access categories for 5G Unified Access Control.

3GPP TS 22.261 also specifies what is defined as “Access Identities”. AUE is configured with one or multiple access identities in order toreflect if the UE is a “normal UE” or configured for use by special,typically high-priority services. An example of the UE is for operatoruse or for mission-critical services. In the table of FIG. 8 , theaccess identities specified in TS 22.261 for 5G Unified Access Controlare illustrated.

The stage-1 requirements in TS 22.261 do not define in detail what an“access attempt” is. Definition of the access attempts, for each accesscategory, is now being done by 3GPP working groups (mainly CT1 andRAN2). It is understood that access attempts may be detected andidentified in several layers in the UE, including 5GSM, 5GMM, SMSoIP,MMTEL and RRC. But “double barring” should be avoided and therefore agiven access attempt should only be detected at one place in theprotocol stack, and only once.

Typically, the layer which detects the access attempt performs themapping to access category, triggers an access barring check, andperforms enforcement of blocking the attempt if not authorized.

An overall procedure for unified access control is described below withrespect to FIG. 9 .

Before an access is attempted by a UE (102), it needs to associate anevent, such as, for example, a trigger from higher layers in the UE tosend a signalling message, to an access category of the [1 . . . m]access categories.

To do this, the UE may be provided with instructions or rules from thenetwork. FIG. 9 illustrates a signalling diagram for one exemplaryprocedure.

In a first step 901, a network node optionally provides rules for theoperator-specific access categories. In FIG. 9 , this information isillustrated as originating from the network node (106) but may very wellalso originate from other network nodes and be transmitted to the UE vianetwork node (106) or possibly via another node (e.g., an operator'spolicy functionality configuring the UE (102) via WLAN access network).If the network includes a higher-level controller or policyfunctionality it may originate from another node hosting such controlleror policy functionality. The higher layer rules may be signalled to theUE via Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) signalling from a core network node,such as the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function), or it may besignalled using other protocols, for example, the UE (102) may includean entity that can be configured with and host access category rulessignalled using an Open Mobile Alliance device management (OMA-DM)protocol.

Included in the rules from the network node (106) could be informationrelated to for example, how a UE should select access category if theaccess attempt relates to one or more of a PDU session with therequested DNN (Data Network Name) set to a particular value, aparticular 5QI (5G QoS Identifier) value, or with specific values ofinside the IP packet header (e.g. destination IP address or destinationport number). Rules can also include information related to access tovarious slices. For example, a small device-UE (102), may want toaccess, e.g., an IoT-optimized slice.

When an event in the UE occurs, which triggers what is defined as adetected access attempt 902 a need for the UE 102 to request an accessto the network, such as a need to establish a new PDU session or tosetup an MMTel voice or video call, the UE 102 first determines theaccess category in step 903, based on the available rules includingthose which were obtained in step 901, together with standardized rules.After determining the access category for this particular access, the UE102 then reads access barring indications typically part of thebroadcasted system information in step 905. Typically, the UE 102 isrequired to maintain the latest version of the broadcasted systeminformation which implies that the UE 102 in many cases does notactually have to re-read the system information and instead can usecached system information. It then performs an access barring check instep 906, using the determined access category and the access barringindication as input. In step 907 the UE performs enforcement of anybarring, i.e., if the barring check results in that the access wasnot-authorized/“barred” the UE will not perform an access and insteadwait for a period, such as a period indicated in the access barringindication. But in case the barring check results in that the access wasauthorized/“not barred” the UE 102 can proceed with the access attempt(such as establishing a PDU session or MMTel voice or video call) instep 908. In case the UE was in idle mode or RRC_INACTIVE state, it alsoneeds to establish (or resume in case of RRC_INACTIVE) the RRCconnection including a random access as part of step 908.

The development of a unified access control mechanism for access barringis currently ongoing.

FIG. 10 illustrates a model in the UE 102 for the interaction betweenNAS 505 and AS 504 when performing barring check when an access attemptis detected as part of unified access control. It should be noted thatthe barring check can be performed at any time a new access attempt isdetected and in all UE states, including RRC_IDLE, RRC_INACTIVE andRRC_CONNECTED. It should also be understood that at the time NASrequests a signalling connection, all barring checks should already havebeen performed and passed.

There currently exist certain challenges. In the recent developments ofunified access control in 3GPP, it is being discussed to use the accesscategory for the access attempt which triggered the request for RRCconnection, as a replacement of the RRC Establishment Cause.

The main challenge when using the access category directly in the RRCConnection Request message, is that the size of the RRC ConnectionRequest message (msg3), is very limited, in order to meet coveragerequirements in all scenarios. This typically means that the full sizeof the Access Category (six bits) may not fit into the message whenconsidering other information elements which are more important, such asthe UE identity. In LTE the size of the RRC Establishment Cause is threebits.

As an alternative approach, it has been suggested to use the accesscategory as an input to determine the RRC Establishment Cause, that is,a mapping from the access categories onto RRC Establishment Causes arespecified in the standard.

In this alternative approach, the above size limitation can be mitigatedsomewhat. However, the access category selected by the UE for the accessattempt may be one of the operator-defined, also known asoperator-specific, access categories. The meaning of a givenoperator-defined access category value is not standardized and are corenetwork operator-specific and in case of shared networks, multiple corenetworks share the same RAN and access nodes. These values can thereforetypically not be interpreted by RAN.

Yet another aspect to be dealt with is how Access Identities configuredin the UE are to be used when determining the RRC Establishment Cause.In LTE, a UE configured with any of the access classes AC11-15 will inmost cases use the highPriorityAccess value of the RRC EstablishmentCause.

Recently in standardization meetings and discussions, the potential needhas also been brought up to introduce some degree of flexibility for thenetwork operator to configure the setting of establishment causes, oreven have network-specific cause values in order to tailor how the UEsset their establishment cause values. There is no solution yet for howto configure cause values for 5G/NR.

Thus, there is a need for methods and apparatuses to determine the RRCEstablishment Cause, which:

-   -   use Access Category and Access Identities as input;    -   can meet the size limitations of msg3;    -   can handle operator-defined access categories; and    -   provide a possibility for the network to configure the        establishment cause values.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments mayprovide solutions to these or other challenges. Embodiments hereinrelate to wireless communication systems such as cellular networks.Methods, user equipments, and network nodes for transmitting andreceiving messages related to wireless access are disclosed herein.

According to certain embodiments, when the UE is about to request an RRCConnection, it evaluates the ongoing access attempts and determines themost appropriate access attempt (this can be performed in alternativeways, e.g., the one which triggered the request, the most prioritizedone, or some other criteria). With this selected most appropriate accessattempt, the UE then determines an associated most appropriate accesscategory value.

In many cases, the determination of the most appropriate access categoryis performed in the same way as determination of the access category forunified access control (i.e., barring check). In case the determinedaccess category for unified access control is a standardized accesscategory, the most appropriate access category is the same as thedetermined access category for unified access control. In case thedetermined access category for unified access control is an operatorspecific access category, the UE will determine the most appropriateaccess category using one of several approaches, including, but notlimited to:

-   -   1. The UE will select the most appropriate access category        according to rules for selection of the access category for        unified access control, but does not consider the operator        specific access categorization policy (i.e., only standardized        access categories can be selected).    -   2. As part of the configuration for the operator-defined access        category, the UE would have selected to perform access barring        check for the most appropriate access attempt, the standardized        access category is stored. The UE will then use this stored        standardized access category value as the most appropriate        access category.

According to certain embodiments, when the UE has determined a mostappropriate access category, the UE uses the most appropriate accesscategory, together with the access identities configured in the UE, toselect an RRC Establishment Cause. The method to perform this selectionis typically standardized in a specification, e.g., as a mapping table.

The UE may then put this selected RRC Establishment cause value into theRRC Connection Establishment message when requesting the RRC Connection.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram showing a method, performed by a UE, accordingto particular embodiments disclosed herein

There are, proposed herein, various embodiments which address one ormore of the issues disclosed herein. Specifically, UEs, network nodes,and methods performed by said UEs and network nodes are disclosed, aswill be described in more detail. Certain embodiments may provide one ormore of the following technical advantages. For example, certainembodiments provide solutions to determine the RRC Establishment Cause,which solutions use Access Category and Access Identities as input, meetthe size limitations of msg3, can handle operator-defined accesscategories, and provide a possibility for the network to configureestablishment cause value setting by the UEs.

According to certain embodiments, by mapping access categories (inparticular operator-specific categories) into a smaller set ofestablishment cause values, the number of establishment causes thatneeds to be defined may be reduced, since we don't need one codepoint inthe establishment cause value range for each access category value. Inthis way, the RRC Connection Request message becomes shorter and willmore likely meet requirements on range and/or reliability. Furthermore,by defining which establishment cause to use for each individualoperator-specific access category, the corresponding connection requestscan be prioritized in a better (i.e., more fair) way, and as wellreflect the criteria for determining operator-specific access category,such as DNN, 5QI and slice. According to certain embodiments, thesolution also provides the flexibility to define operator-specificestablishment cause values, which will further differentiate betweenconnection requests. For example, it may be possible to let thepriorities between slices be reflected in the establishment cause. Italso makes it possible for a network to add new causes or change meaningof existing cause values to reflect changes in supported services and/orthe prioritization of services by a network. Other advantages may bereadily apparent to one having skill in the art. Certain embodiments mayhave none, some, or all of the recited advantages.

Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described morefully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments,however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosedherein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limitedto only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments areprovided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter tothose skilled in the art.

Procedures used to determine the establishment cause are discussedbelow.

FIG. 12 illustrates certain embodiments of the interaction between theNon-Access Stratum 505 and the Access Stratum 504 in the UE 102 fordetermining establishment cause when the UE is about to establish a NASsignalling connection.

In step 1201, the NAS 505 detects that a NAS signalling connection isneeded according to triggers specified in the NAS signalling protocols,e.g., in the SGMM protocol layer. The trigger for the need of a NASsignalling connection could, e.g., be that a Registration Procedure isabout to start, or a request from upper layers, such as the MMTel layerto establish a voice call. This trigger is in turn identified as anaccess attempt by NAS 505, and an access category is selected accordingto the rules for unified access control. In some cases, there may beseveral access attempts triggered at the same time or a first accessattempt is already ongoing when a second access attempt is detected. Tocater to those cases of multiple access attempts, the NAS 505 determinesone of these multiple access attempts as the most appropriate accessattempt according to a rule. In one example, the NAS 505 ranks themultiple access attempts according to their priority—for example, in onepriority scheme, emergency calls always have higher priority than allother access attempts and would be determined as the most appropriateaccess attempt in case an emergency call is ongoing or is about tostart. This is just an example, and other priority schemes may also beemployed. In another example, NAS 505 selects the most appropriateaccess attempt as the most recent access attempt, typically the accessattempt which triggered the need for a NAS signalling connection. In yetanother example, NAS 505 determines the most appropriate access attemptas a random selection of all ongoing and starting access attempts. Theseare merely a few examples, and other embodiments may be employed todetermine which access attempt is deemed the most appropriate.

In step 1202, NAS 505 derives the most appropriate access category forthe most appropriate access attempt which was determined in step 1201.This process will be explained in more detail in FIG. 13 .

In step 1203, NAS 505 requests AS 504 for a NAS signalling connection,and passes, among other information, the most appropriate accesscategory derived in step 1202, to AS 504. The AS 504, typically the RRClayer 601, is typically in RRC_IDLE state when NAS 505 requests a NASsignalling connection.

In step 1204, the AS 504 then maps the most appropriate access categoryto an establishment cause value.

In step 1205, AS 504 performs the RRC connection establishment procedureand includes the establishment cause obtained in step 1203 in themessage requesting the connection, typically the RRC Connection Requestmessage.

When the RRC connection has been successfully established, the AS 504confirms the establishment of the NAS signalling connection to NAS 505in step 1206.

FIG. 13 illustrates a method for the determination of the mostappropriate access category performed in step 1202.

In step 1301, the UE 102, typically NAS 505, uses the rules for unifiedaccess control to determine the access category for the most appropriateaccess attempt determined in step 1201. Since unified access control isperformed on all access attempts, this step may have already beenperformed before the barring check for the access attempt determined asthe most appropriate access attempt.

In step 1302, the UE checks the type of the access category obtained instep 1301 (standardized access category or operator-specific accesscategory).

If the access category is a standardized access category, the UE in step1303 sets the most appropriate access category as the access categoryaccording to the rules for unified access control, i.e., thisstandardized access category.

If the access category is an operator-specific access category, the UEin step 1304 uses one of several multiple alternative methods fordetermining most appropriate access category:

In one method, the UE will select the most appropriate access categoryaccording to rules for selection of the access category for unifiedaccess control but does not consider the operator specific accesscategorization policy (i.e. only standardized access categories can beselected).

In another method, the UE uses a table which may have been received fromthe network, typically using NAS signalling from a core network node,such as the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function), when theoperator-specific access categories were configured. The UE looks up thetable entry for the access category, obtained in step 1301, and readsthe standardized access category stored in this table entry. The UE willthen use this stored standardized access category value as the mostappropriate access category. This table could be the same table as usedfor representing the rules for the determination of operator-specificaccess categories (as illustrated in FIG. 16 ) or a separate table.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example procedure for the mapping of the mostappropriate access category to establishment cause.

In step 1401, the UE (e.g., AS 504) first obtains the access identitiesconfigured in the UE. The access identities may be read from the USIM orUICC, or obtained using some rules, e.g., stated in a specification. Forexample, 3GPP TS 22.261 states that the UE is configured with accessidentity 11 when the UICC is assigned with the special access classAC11. As the result of this step, the output is one or several accessidentities.

In step 1402, the UE checks whether an access identity, with the value 0is available. Typically, the access identity with value 0 is used whenthe UE does not have any other access identities. In this case it is a“normal UE”, such as a UE without any high-priority services or withoutany high-priority subscriber.

If the access identity is 0, the UE proceeds in step 1403 by determiningthe establishment cause solely by using the value of the mostappropriate access category and uses this establishment cause in the RRCconnection request message.

If there are one or several access identities with a value other than 0,the UE proceeds in step 1404 by using at least the access identity todetermine the establishment cause. In one example, the UE sets theestablishment cause in this case to always be “High Priority Access” anduses this establishment cause in the RRC connection request message. Inanother example, access identities other than 0 are mapped on twodifferent establishment causes, so that access identities 1-7 are mappedonto establishment cause High Priority Access-1 and access identities8-15 are mapped onto High Priority Access-2. When the establishmentcause High Priority Access, High Priority Access-1 or High PriorityAccess-2 is included in the RRC connection request message, it indicatesto the network that this request should typically not be rejected andshould be prioritized in front of accesses with other establishmentcauses.

In yet another example, the UE sets the establishment cause by using thevalue of the most appropriate access category, but also includes anadditional information element, e.g. to indicate a high priority access,in the RRC connection request message. In yet another example, the UEuses all access identities (e.g. represented as a bit string) along withan establishment cause in the RRC connection request message. Or in yetanother example, different values of access identities are mapped ontodifferent establishment cause values, such as access identities 1-7 aremapped onto High Priority-1 and access identities 8-15 are mapped ontoHigh Priority-2. It should be noted that the examples with an additionalinformation element, to indicate high priority and/or access identities,can be used when there is available space in the RRC connection requestmessage.

In yet another example, instead of only using the access identities,when set to a number other than 0, to determine the establishment cause,the combination of most appropriate access category and accessidentities is used. For example, if the appropriate access categoryindicates “emergency” (e.g. value 2), and the access identity of value 1is configured in the UE, the establishment cause value “High PriorityEmergency” is used.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example for how to map the most appropriateaccess category value to an establishment cause, also known as RRCestablishment cause. It should be understood that the unified accesscontrol for 5G will be applied both for NR and LTE access to the 5G corenetwork. NR and LTE are two different radio access technologies withalso different RRC protocols, specified separately. Therefore, the RRCestablishment procedures are not exactly the same, and for example theRRC connection request messages are not necessarily of the same format.More specifically, the establishment cause for NR and LTE flavours ofRRC will evolve separately. Since the set of values for those two typesof establishment causes will most likely be different, the mapping frommost appropriate access category for NR will be different than for LTE.

It should be understood that the mapping here is just an example, and itdoes not preclude that other establishment cause values are defined forNR and LTE. It should also be understood that the same type of mappingmay also be performed to the establishment cause used in NB-IoT(Narrowband Internet of Things) variant of LTE, or any other radioaccess technology. For the values 8-31 of access category, whichcurrently are being reserved for future use, if one of them becomesdefined, a corresponding mapping from the most appropriate accesscategory value to the RRC establishment cause in NR and LTE needs alsoto be defined. For example, to map the new appropriate access categoryvalue to an existing establishment cause value in NR and/or LTE, such asMO Data. Or, alternatively, to define a new establishment cause value inNR and/or LTE and map the new appropriate access category value to thisnew establishment cause value.

FIG. 15 is a table illustrating an example of a mapping of a mostappropriate access category values to respective establishment causevalues according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. FIG. 16 is atable illustrating a table in a UE that is used to configure mostappropriate access categories according to operator-specific accesscategory rules according to some embodiments of inventive concepts.

Network configuration of establishment cause values is discussed below.According to alternative embodiments, for the “most appropriate accessattempts” with operator-specific access categories, instead ofdetermining a most appropriate access category and mapping it toestablishment cause, as performed in FIGS. 13-15 , there is analternative solution.

In one example, as part of the configuration of the operator-specificaccess categories in the UE, the value of the establishment cause isstored. In other words, when performing an RRC connection establishmenttriggered by a most appropriate access attempt with this particularaccess category this particular establishment cause is used by the UE.This is illustrated in FIG. 17 . For example, FIG. 17 illustrates in thefirst row that the operator-specific access category 32 would be used inunified access control, for an access attempt relating to a PDU sessionwith the DNN=18. In addition, when this particular access attempt isselected as the most appropriate access attempt triggering an RRCconnection establishment, the establishment cause in the RRC connectionrequest message is set to the value “MO Data”.

In another example, a similar method can be used to configureoperator-specific establishment cause values, see FIG. 18 . For example,FIG. 18 illustrates in the first row that the operator-specific accesscategory 32 would be used in unified access control, for an accessattempt relating to a PDU session with the DNN=18. In addition, whenthis particular access attempt is selected as the most appropriateaccess attempt triggering an RRC connection establishment, theestablishment cause in the RRC connection request message is set to thevalue “Operator-specific#8”

And for example, as configured in the second row of FIG. 18 , an accessattempt using slice 5 will use operator-specific access category 33 andbe mapped onto establishment cause Operator-specific#8. And, asconfigured in the third row in FIG. 18 , an access attempt using slice 8(and TCP destination port 8820) will use operator-specific accesscategory 38 and be mapped onto establishment cause Operator-specific#9.In this example access uses e.g., different slices can be mapped ondifferent establishment causes (Operator-specific#8 andOperator-specific#9 in this example) and get different handling and/orprioritization when the network receives the RRC connection requestmessage.

It should be understood that this alternative solution used fordetermining establishment cause for the operator-specific accesscategories, can be combined with the solution illustrated by FIG. 13-FIG. 15 .

For example, if access identities with value other than 0 are configuredin the UE, the UE will use establishment cause based on the accessidentity, even if the UE has been configured with establishment causesfor operator-specific access categories as shown in FIGS. 17-18 .

And for example, in case the most appropriate access category is one ofthe standardized access categories, the UE can use the mapping toestablishment cause illustrated in FIG. 15 , also when this alternativesolution is used for the most appropriate access category being one ofthe operator-specific access categories.

Embodiments described here are illustrated for the case when includingan establishment cause in a message requesting an RRC connection, i.e.the RRC Connection Request message. A person skilled in the art willappreciate that this solution may also be used to determine a causevalue also for the request to resume and/or activate the RRC connection(e.g. RRC Resume Request) when the UE is in RRC_INACTIVE state. Unifiedaccess control is typically applied for this case and therefore a mostappropriate access attempt can be determined also for this case andsimilar cases when unified access control is applied for an accessattempt triggering transmission of a message from the UE.

The model for AS-NAS interaction described here is only an example. Forexample, it should be understood that this solution can be applied onother models, such as when the AS and/or RRC layer determines mostappropriate access attempt and if applicable, most appropriate accesscategory. It should also be understood that this solution can also beapplied both in case AS or NAS determines the establishment cause.

Operations of a user equipment UE (also referred to as a wirelessdevice) will now be discussed with reference to the flow chart of FIG.28 . For example, the UE may be implemented using the structure of FIG.19 with modules stored in device readable medium 1930 (also referred toas memory) so that the modules provide instructions so that when theinstructions of a module are executed by processing circuitry 1920 (alsoreferred to as a processor), processing circuitry 1920 performsrespective operations. Processing circuitry of the UE may thus transmitand/or receive communications to/from one or more network nodes 1960 ofa wireless communication network through radio interface 1914.

At block 2801, processing circuitry 1920 may receive an operator definedaccess category from the wireless communication network through radiointerface 1914. At block 2803, processing circuitry 1920 may detect anaccess attempt, for example, based on at least one of establishing a newprotocol data unit PDU session, setting up a voice call, and setting upa video call.

At block 2805, processing circuitry 1920 may determine an accesscategory from a plurality of access categories and at least one accessidentity from a plurality of access identities to be applied for anaccess attempt. The access category may be determined based on detectingthe access attempt.

At block 2807, processing circuitry 1920 may determine an establishmentcause for the access attempt based on the access category determinedfrom the plurality of access categories and based on the at least oneaccess identity from the plurality of access identities.

At block 2809, processing circuitry 1920 may perform an access barringcheck for the access attempt based on the access category determinedfrom the plurality of access categories and based on the at least oneaccess identity from the plurality of access identities.

Responsive to the access barring check authorizing the access attempt,processing circuitry 1920 may proceed with the access attempt. Forexample, processing circuitry 1920 may proceed with the access attemptby transmitting a random access preamble for the access attempt throughradio interface 1914 to the wireless communication network responsive tothe access barring check authorizing the access attempt at block 2811,and by receiving (through radio interface 1914) a random access responsefor the access attempt after transmitting the random access preamble atblock 2813.

At block 2815, processing circuitry 1920 may transmit a connectionrequest message for the access attempt through radio interface 1914 to awireless communication network responsive to receiving the random accessresponse. Moreover, the connection request message may include theestablishment cause determined based on the access category and based onthe at least one access identity.

The establishment cause may include one of a plurality of establishmentcauses including mobile terminated access, emergency call, mobileoriginated signalling, mobile originated voice call, mobile originateddata, and high priority access. Moreover, the establishment cause may bedetermined based on the access category and based on the at least oneaccess identity as being one of a mobile terminated access, an emergencycall, mobile originated signalling, mobile originated voice call, and/ormobile originated data based on mapping the access category determinedfrom the plurality of access categories to the establishment cause. Theestablishment cause may be determined based on mapping the accesscategory determined from the plurality of access categories to theestablishment cause and based on the at least one access identity forthe UE being zero.

The plurality of access categories may include an operator definedaccess category, and the operator defined access category is based on atleast one of a data network name and a slice identifier.

Determining the access category and the at least one access identity atblock 2805 may include determining that the operator defined accesscategory is to be applied for the access attempt, and the establishmentcause may be determined based on mapping the operator defined accesscategory to the establishment cause. For example, the operator definedaccess category may be based on at least one of a data network name anda slice identifier, and mapping the operator defined access category mayinclude mapping the operator defined access category to theestablishment cause for mobile originated data.

According to some embodiments, the establishment cause may be determinedas being high priority access based on the at least one access identityfor the UE being non-zero.

According to some embodiments, the connection request message of block2815 may be a Radio Resource Control RRC connection request message, andthe establishment cause may be an RRC establishment cause. According tosome other embodiments, the connection request message may be a RadioResource Control RRC resume request message, and wherein theestablishment cause is an RRC resume cause.

Various operations of FIG. 28 may be optional with respect to someembodiments of inventive concepts. For example, operations 2801, 2803,2809, 2811, and 2813 of FIG. 28 may be optional with respect to someembodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless network according tosome embodiments of inventive concepts. Although the subject matterdescribed herein may be implemented in any appropriate type of systemusing any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein aredescribed in relation to a wireless network, such as the examplewireless network illustrated in FIG. 19 . For simplicity, the wirelessnetwork of FIG. 19 only depicts network 1906, network nodes 1960 and1960 b, and WDs 1910, 1910 b, and 1910 c. In practice, a wirelessnetwork may further include any additional elements suitable to supportcommunication between wireless devices or between a wireless device andanother communication device, such as a landline telephone, a serviceprovider, or any other network node or end device. Of the illustratedcomponents, network node 1960 and wireless device (WD) 1910 are depictedwith additional detail. The wireless network may provide communicationand other types of services to one or more wireless devices tofacilitate the wireless devices' access to and/or use of the servicesprovided by, or via, the wireless network.

The wireless network may comprise and/or interface with any type ofcommunication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radio networkor other similar type of system. In some embodiments, the wirelessnetwork may be configured to operate according to specific standards orother types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particularembodiments of the wireless network may implement communicationstandards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM),Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution(LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless localarea network (WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/orany other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as theWorldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth,Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.

Network 1906 may comprise one or more backhaul networks, core networks,IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet datanetworks, optical networks, wide-area networks (WANs), local areanetworks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks,wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks toenable communication between devices.

Network node 1960 and WD 1910 comprise various components described inmore detail below. These components work together in order to providenetwork node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providingwireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments,the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wirelessnetworks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices,relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that mayfacilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signalswhether via wired or wireless connections.

As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured,arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with awireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in thewireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to thewireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration)in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are notlimited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), basestations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, and evolved Node Bs(eNBs)). Base stations may be categorized based on the amount ofcoverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit powerlevel) and may then also be referred to as femto base stations, picobase stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A basestation may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. Anetwork node may also include one or more (or all) parts of adistributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/orremote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads(RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with anantenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radiobase station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antennasystem (DAS). Yet further examples of network nodes includemulti-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, networkcontrollers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base stationcontrollers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmissionpoints, transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities(MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SONnodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and/or MDTs. As anotherexample, a network node may be a virtual network node as described inmore detail below. More generally, however, network nodes may representany suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured, arranged,and/or operable to enable and/or provide a wireless device with accessto the wireless network or to provide some service to a wireless devicethat has accessed the wireless network.

In FIG. 19 , network node 1960 includes processing circuitry 1970,device readable medium 1980, interface 1990, auxiliary equipment 1984,power source 1986, power circuitry 1987, and antenna 1962. Althoughnetwork node 1960 illustrated in the example wireless network of FIG. 19may represent a device that includes the illustrated combination ofhardware components, other embodiments may comprise network nodes withdifferent combinations of components. It is to be understood that anetwork node comprises any suitable combination of hardware and/orsoftware needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methodsdisclosed herein. Moreover, while the components of network node 1960are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nestedwithin multiple boxes, in practice, a network node may comprise multipledifferent physical components that make up a single illustratedcomponent (e.g., device readable medium 1980 may comprise multipleseparate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

Similarly, network node 1960 may be composed of multiple physicallyseparate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or aBTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their ownrespective components. In certain scenarios in which network node 1960comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components),one or more of the separate components may be shared among severalnetwork nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeB's.In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in someinstances be considered a single separate network node. In someembodiments, network node 1960 may be configured to support multipleradio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some componentsmay be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium 1980 for thedifferent RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the sameantenna 1962 may be shared by the RATs). Network node 1960 may alsoinclude multiple sets of the various illustrated components fordifferent wireless technologies integrated into network node 1960, suchas, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wirelesstechnologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into thesame or different chip or set of chips and other components withinnetwork node 1960.

Processing circuitry 1970 is configured to perform any determining,calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations)described herein as being provided by a network node. These operationsperformed by processing circuitry 1970 may include processinginformation obtained by processing circuitry 1970 by, for example,converting the obtained information into other information, comparingthe obtained information or converted information to information storedin the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based onthe obtained information or converted information, and as a result ofsaid processing making a determination.

Processing circuitry 1970 may comprise a combination of one or more of amicroprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit,digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, fieldprogrammable gate array, or any other suitable computing device,resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logicoperable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other networknode 1960 components, such as device readable medium 1980, network node1960 functionality. For example, processing circuitry 1970 may executeinstructions stored in device readable medium 1980 or in memory withinprocessing circuitry 1970. Such functionality may include providing anyof the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussedherein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1970 may include asystem on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1970 may include one or moreof radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1972 and basebandprocessing circuitry 1974. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF)transceiver circuitry 1972 and baseband processing circuitry 1974 may beon separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radiounits and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RFtransceiver circuitry 1972 and baseband processing circuitry 1974 may beon the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality describedherein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB or othersuch network device may be performed by processing circuitry 1970executing instructions stored on device readable medium 1980 or memorywithin processing circuitry 1970. In alternative embodiments, some orall of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 1970without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete devicereadable medium, such as in a hard-wired manner In any of thoseembodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readablestorage medium or not, processing circuitry 1970 can be configured toperform the described functionality. The benefits provided by suchfunctionality are not limited to processing circuitry 1970 alone or toother components of network node 1960, but are enjoyed by network node1960 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Device readable medium 1980 may comprise any form of volatile ornon-volatile computer readable memory including, without limitation,persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory,magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removablestorage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or aDigital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile,non-transitory device readable and/or computer-executable memory devicesthat store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used byprocessing circuitry 1970. Device readable medium 1980 may store anysuitable instructions, data or information, including a computerprogram, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules,code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executedby processing circuitry 1970 and, utilized by network node 1960. Devicereadable medium 1980 may be used to store any calculations made byprocessing circuitry 1970 and/or any data received via interface 1990.In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1970 and device readablemedium 1980 may be considered to be integrated.

Interface 1990 is used in the wired or wireless communication ofsignalling and/or data between network node 1960, network 1906, and/orWDs 1910. As illustrated, interface 1990 comprises port(s)/terminal(s)1994 to send and receive data, for example to and from network 1906 overa wired connection. Interface 1990 also includes radio front endcircuitry 1992 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a partof, antenna 1962. Radio front end circuitry 1992 comprises filters 1998and amplifiers 1996. Radio front end circuitry 1992 may be connected toantenna 1962 and processing circuitry 1970. Radio front end circuitrymay be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1962and processing circuitry 1970. Radio front end circuitry 1992 mayreceive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes orWDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 1992 mayconvert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriatechannel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1998and/or amplifiers 1996. The radio signal may then be transmitted viaantenna 1962. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 1962 may collectradio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio frontend circuitry 1992. The digital data may be passed to processingcircuitry 1970. In other embodiments, the interface may comprisedifferent components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, network node 1960 may not includeseparate radio front end circuitry 1992, instead, processing circuitry1970 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected toantenna 1962 without separate radio front end circuitry 1992. Similarly,in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 1972 may beconsidered a part of interface 1990. In still other embodiments,interface 1990 may include one or more ports or terminals 1994, radiofront end circuitry 1992, and RF transceiver circuitry 1972, as part ofa radio unit (not shown), and interface 1990 may communicate withbaseband processing circuitry 1974, which is part of a digital unit (notshown).

Antenna 1962 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays,configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna 1962 may becoupled to radio front end circuitry 1990 and may be any type of antennacapable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. Insome embodiments, antenna 1962 may comprise one or moreomni-directional, sector or panel antennas operable to transmit/receiveradio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. Anomni-directional antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signalsin any direction, a sector antenna may be used to transmit/receive radiosignals from devices within a particular area, and a panel antenna maybe a line of sight antenna used to transmit/receive radio signals in arelatively straight line. In some instances, the use of more than oneantenna may be referred to as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna 1962may be separate from network node 1960 and may be connectable to networknode 1960 through an interface or port.

Antenna 1962, interface 1990, and/or processing circuitry 1970 may beconfigured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtainingoperations described herein as being performed by a network node. Anyinformation, data and/or signals may be received from a wireless device,another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly,antenna 1962, interface 1990, and/or processing circuitry 1970 may beconfigured to perform any transmitting operations described herein asbeing performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signalsmay be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or anyother network equipment.

Power circuitry 1987 may comprise, or be coupled to, power managementcircuitry and is configured to supply the components of network node1960 with power for performing the functionality described herein. Powercircuitry 1987 may receive power from power source 1986. Power source1986 and/or power circuitry 1987 may be configured to provide power tothe various components of network node 1960 in a form suitable for therespective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed foreach respective component). Power source 1986 may either be included in,or external to, power circuitry 1987 and/or network node 1960. Forexample, network node 1960 may be connectable to an external powersource (e.g., an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interfacesuch as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source suppliespower to power circuitry 1987. As a further example, power source 1986may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery packwhich is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry 1987. Thebattery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also beused.

Alternative embodiments of network node 1960 may include additionalcomponents beyond those shown in FIG. 19 that may be responsible forproviding certain aspects of the network node's functionality, includingany of the functionality described herein and/or any functionalitynecessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example,network node 1960 may include user interface equipment to allow input ofinformation into network node 1960 and to allow output of informationfrom network node 1960. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic,maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node1960.

As used herein, wireless device (WD) refers to a device capable,configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly withnetwork nodes and/or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, theterm WD may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE).Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or receivingwireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infraredwaves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying informationthrough air. In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to transmitand/or receive information without direct human interaction. Forinstance, a WD may be designed to transmit information to a network on apredetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event,or in response to requests from the network. Examples of a WD include,but are not limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, avoice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktopcomputer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, agaming console or device, a music storage device, a playback appliance,a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, atablet, a laptop, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mountedequipment (LME), a smart device, a wireless customer-premise equipment(CPE). a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, etc. A WD may supportdevice-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPPstandard for sidelink communication, and may in this case be referred toas a D2D communication device. As yet another specific example, in anInternet of Things (IoT) scenario, a WD may represent a machine or otherdevice that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits theresults of such monitoring and/or measurements to another WD and/or anetwork node. The WD may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M)device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as a machine-typecommunication (MTC) device. As one particular example, the WD may be aUE implementing the 3GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT)standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors,metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home orpersonal appliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personalwearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, aWD may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable ofmonitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functionsassociated with its operation. A WD as described above may represent theendpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may bereferred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described abovemay be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobiledevice or a mobile terminal.

As illustrated, wireless device 1910 includes antenna 1911, interface1914, processing circuitry 1920, device readable medium 1930, userinterface equipment 1932, auxiliary equipment 1934, power source 1936and power circuitry 1937. WD 1910 may include multiple sets of one ormore of the illustrated components for different wireless technologiessupported by WD 1910, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi,WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. Thesewireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chipsor set of chips as other components within WD 1910.

Antenna 1911 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays,configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected tointerface 1914. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna 1911 may beseparate from WD 1910 and be connectable to WD 1910 through an interfaceor port. Antenna 1911, interface 1914, and/or processing circuitry 1920may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operationsdescribed herein as being performed by a WD. Any information, dataand/or signals may be received from a network node and/or another WD. Insome embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna 1911 may beconsidered an interface.

As illustrated, interface 1914 comprises radio front end circuitry 1912and antenna 1911. Radio front end circuitry 1912 comprise one or morefilters 1918 and amplifiers 1916. Radio front end circuitry 1914 isconnected to antenna 1911 and processing circuitry 1920, and isconfigured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1911 andprocessing circuitry 1920. Radio front end circuitry 1912 may be coupledto or a part of antenna 1911. In some embodiments, WD 1910 may notinclude separate radio front end circuitry 1912; rather, processingcircuitry 1920 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may beconnected to antenna 1911. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or allof RF transceiver circuitry 1922 may be considered a part of interface1914. Radio front end circuitry 1912 may receive digital data that is tobe sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection.Radio front end circuitry 1912 may convert the digital data into a radiosignal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using acombination of filters 1918 and/or amplifiers 1916. The radio signal maythen be transmitted via antenna 1911. Similarly, when receiving data,antenna 1911 may collect radio signals which are then converted intodigital data by radio front end circuitry 1912. The digital data may bepassed to processing circuitry 1920. In other embodiments, the interfacemay comprise different components and/or different combinations ofcomponents.

Processing circuitry 1920 may comprise a combination of one or more of amicroprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit,digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, fieldprogrammable gate array, or any other suitable computing device,resource, or combination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logicoperable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other WD 1910components, such as device readable medium 1930, WD 1910 functionality.Such functionality may include providing any of the various wirelessfeatures or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry1920 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 1930 orin memory within processing circuitry 1920 to provide the functionalitydisclosed herein.

As illustrated, processing circuitry 1920 includes one or more of RFtransceiver circuitry 1922, baseband processing circuitry 1924, andapplication processing circuitry 1926. In other embodiments, theprocessing circuitry may comprise different components and/or differentcombinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry1920 of WD 1910 may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceivercircuitry 1922, baseband processing circuitry 1924, and applicationprocessing circuitry 1926 may be on separate chips or sets of chips. Inalternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry1924 and application processing circuitry 1926 may be combined into onechip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry 1922 may be on aseparate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments, part orall of RF transceiver circuitry 1922 and baseband processing circuitry1924 may be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processingcircuitry 1926 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet otheralternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1922,baseband processing circuitry 1924, and application processing circuitry1926 may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In someembodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 1922 may be a part of interface1914. RF transceiver circuitry 1922 may condition RF signals forprocessing circuitry 1920.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality describedherein as being performed by a WD may be provided by processingcircuitry 1920 executing instructions stored on device readable medium1930, which in certain embodiments may be a computer-readable storagemedium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality maybe provided by processing circuitry 1920 without executing instructionsstored on a separate or discrete device readable storage medium, such asin a hard-wired manner In any of those particular embodiments, whetherexecuting instructions stored on a device readable storage medium ornot, processing circuitry 1920 can be configured to perform thedescribed functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality arenot limited to processing circuitry 1920 alone or to other components ofWD 1910, but are enjoyed by WD 1910 as a whole, and/or by end users andthe wireless network generally.

Processing circuitry 1920 may be configured to perform any determining,calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations)described herein as being performed by a WD. These operations, asperformed by processing circuitry 1920, may include processinginformation obtained by processing circuitry 1920 by, for example,converting the obtained information into other information, comparingthe obtained information or converted information to information storedby WD 1910, and/or performing one or more operations based on theobtained information or converted information, and as a result of saidprocessing making a determination.

Device readable medium 1930 may be operable to store a computer program,software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code,tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed byprocessing circuitry 1920. Device readable medium 1930 may includecomputer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory(ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media(e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or anyother volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/orcomputer executable memory devices that store information, data, and/orinstructions that may be used by processing circuitry 1920. In someembodiments, processing circuitry 1920 and device readable medium 1930may be considered to be integrated.

User interface equipment 1932 may provide components that allow for ahuman user to interact with WD 1910. Such interaction may be of manyforms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment1932 may be operable to produce output to the user and to allow the userto provide input to WD 1910. The type of interaction may vary dependingon the type of user interface equipment 1932 installed in WD 1910. Forexample, if WD 1910 is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touchscreen; if WD 1910 is a smart meter, the interaction may be through ascreen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or aspeaker that provides an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected).User interface equipment 1932 may include input interfaces, devices andcircuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interfaceequipment 1932 is configured to allow input of information into WD 1910,and is connected to processing circuitry 1920 to allow processingcircuitry 1920 to process the input information. User interfaceequipment 1932 may include, for example, a microphone, a proximity orother sensor, keys/buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USBport, or other input circuitry. User interface equipment 1932 is alsoconfigured to allow output of information from WD 1910, and to allowprocessing circuitry 1920 to output information from WD 1910. Userinterface equipment 1932 may include, for example, a speaker, a display,vibrating circuitry, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other outputcircuitry. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, andcircuits, of user interface equipment 1932, WD 1910 may communicate withend users and/or the wireless network, and allow them to benefit fromthe functionality described herein.

Auxiliary equipment 1934 is operable to provide more specificfunctionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This maycomprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for variouspurposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wiredcommunications etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliaryequipment 1934 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.

Power source 1936 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of a batteryor battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external powersource (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic devices or powercells, may also be used. WD 1910 may further comprise power circuitry1937 for delivering power from power source 1936 to the various parts ofWD 1910 which need power from power source 1936 to carry out anyfunctionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry 1937 may incertain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry1937 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power froman external power source; in which case WD 1910 may be connectable tothe external power source (such as an electricity outlet) via inputcircuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Powercircuitry 1937 may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliverpower from an external power source to power source 1936. This may be,for example, for the charging of power source 1936. Power circuitry 1937may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to thepower from power source 1936 to make the power suitable for therespective components of WD 1910 to which power is supplied.

FIG. 20 illustrates one embodiment of a UE in accordance with variousaspects described herein. As used herein, a user equipment or UE may notnecessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/oroperates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device thatis intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which maynot, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific humanuser. A UE may also comprise any UE identified by the 3rd GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE that is not intendedfor sale to, or operation by, a human user. UE 2000, as illustrated inFIG. 20 , is one example of a WD configured for communication inaccordance with one or more communication standards promulgated by the3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP′s GSM, UMTS,LTE, and/or 5G standards. As mentioned previously, the term WD and UEmay be used interchangeable. Accordingly, although FIG. 20 is a UE, thecomponents discussed herein are equally applicable to a WD, andvice-versa.

In FIG. 20 , UE 2000 includes processing circuitry 2001 that isoperatively coupled to input/output interface 2005, radio frequency (RF)interface 2009, network connection interface 2011, memory 2015 includingrandom access memory (RAM) 2017, read-only memory (ROM) 2019, andstorage medium 2021 or the like, communication subsystem 2031, powersource 2033, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof.Storage medium 2021 includes operating system 2023, application program2025, and data 2027. In other embodiments, storage medium 2021 mayinclude other similar types of information. Certain UEs may utilize allof the components shown in FIG. 20 , or only a subset of the components.The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE toanother UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of acomponent, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers,transmitters, receivers, etc.

In FIG. 20 , processing circuitry 2001 may be configured to processcomputer instructions and data. Processing circuitry 2001 may beconfigured to implement any sequential state machine operative toexecute machine instructions stored as machine-readable computerprograms in the memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented statemachines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logictogether with appropriate firmware; one or more stored program,general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or Digital SignalProcessor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combinationof the above. For example, the processing circuitry 2001 may include twocentral processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a formsuitable for use by a computer.

In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface 2005 may beconfigured to provide a communication interface to an input device,output device, or input and output device. UE 2000 may be configured touse an output device via input/output interface 2005. An output devicemay use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example,a USB port may be used to provide input to and output from UE 2000. Theoutput device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, amonitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another outputdevice, or any combination thereof. UE 2000 may be configured to use aninput device via input/output interface 2005 to allow a user to captureinformation into UE 2000. The input device may include a touch-sensitiveor presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, adigital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, amouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, asmartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include acapacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. Asensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tiltsensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximitysensor, another like sensor, or any combination thereof. For example,the input device may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digitalcamera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

In FIG. 20 , RF interface 2009 may be configured to provide acommunication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, areceiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface 2011 may beconfigured to provide a communication interface to network 2043 a.Network 2043 a may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as alocal-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network,a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like networkor any combination thereof. For example, network 2043 a may comprise aWi-Fi network. Network connection interface 2011 may be configured toinclude a receiver and a transmitter interface used to communicate withone or more other devices over a communication network according to oneor more communication protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, SONET, ATM,or the like. Network connection interface 2011 may implement receiverand transmitter functionality appropriate to the communication networklinks (e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter andreceiver functions may share circuit components, software or firmware,or alternatively may be implemented separately.

RAM 2017 may be configured to interface via bus 2002 to processingcircuitry 2001 to provide storage or caching of data or computerinstructions during the execution of software programs such as theoperating system, application programs, and device drivers. ROM 2019 maybe configured to provide computer instructions or data to processingcircuitry 2001. For example, ROM 2019 may be configured to storeinvariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions suchas basic input and output (I/O), startup, or reception of keystrokesfrom a keyboard that are stored in a non-volatile memory. Storage medium2021 may be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmableread-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magneticdisks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, orflash drives. In one example, storage medium 2021 may be configured toinclude operating system 2023, application program 2025 such as a webbrowser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application,and data file 2027. Storage medium 2021 may store, for use by UE 2000,any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations ofoperating systems.

Storage medium 2021 may be configured to include a number of physicaldrive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppydisk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive,thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc(HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray opticaldisc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive,external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcardmemory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity(SIM/RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. Storagemedium 2021 may allow UE 2000 to access computer-executableinstructions, application programs or the like, stored on transitory ornon-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. Anarticle of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system maybe tangibly embodied in storage medium 2021, which may comprise a devicereadable medium.

In FIG. 20 , processing circuitry 2001 may be configured to communicatewith network 2043 b using communication subsystem 2031. Network 2043 aand network 2043 b may be the same network or networks or differentnetwork or networks. Communication subsystem 2031 may be configured toinclude one or more transceivers used to communicate with network 2043b. For example, communication subsystem 2031 may be configured toinclude one or more transceivers used to communicate with one or moreremote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communicationsuch as another WD, UE, or base station of a radio access network (RAN)according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.20,CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, or the like. Each transceiver mayinclude transmitter 2033 and/or receiver 2035 to implement transmitteror receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links(e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter 2033and receiver 2035 of each transceiver may share circuit components,software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions ofcommunication subsystem 2031 may include data communication, voicecommunication, multimedia communication, short-range communications suchas Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communicationsuch as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine alocation, another like communication function, or any combinationthereof. For example, communication subsystem 2031 may include cellularcommunication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPScommunication. Network 2043 b may encompass wired and/or wirelessnetworks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN),a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network,another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network2043 b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-fieldnetwork. Power source 2013 may be configured to provide alternatingcurrent (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE 2000.

The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may beimplemented in one of the components of UE 2000 or partitioned acrossmultiple components of UE 2000. Further, the features, benefits, and/orfunctions described herein may be implemented in any combination ofhardware, software or firmware. In one example, communication subsystem2031 may be configured to include any of the components describedherein. Further, processing circuitry 2001 may be configured tocommunicate with any of such components over bus 2002. In anotherexample, any of such components may be represented by programinstructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry2001 perform the corresponding functions described herein. In anotherexample, the functionality of any of such components may be partitionedbetween processing circuitry 2001 and communication subsystem 2031. Inanother example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any ofsuch components may be implemented in software or firmware and thecomputationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

FIG. 21 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualizationenvironment 2100 in which functions implemented by some embodiments maybe virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creatingvirtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may includevirtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networkingresources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to a node(e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) orto a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device or any other type ofcommunication device) or components thereof and relates to animplementation in which at least a portion of the functionality isimplemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or moreapplications, components, functions, virtual machines or containersexecuting on one or more physical processing nodes in one or morenetworks).

In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein maybe implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtualmachines implemented in one or more virtual environments 2100 hosted byone or more of hardware nodes 2130. Further, in embodiments in which thevirtual node is not a radio access node or does not require radioconnectivity (e.g., a core network node), then the network node may beentirely virtualized.

The functions may be implemented by one or more applications 2120 (whichmay alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances,network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.)operative to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefitsof some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Applications 2120 are runin virtualization environment 2100 which provides hardware 2130comprising processing circuitry 2160 and memory 2190. Memory 2190contains instructions 2195 executable by processing circuitry 2160whereby application 2120 is operative to provide one or more of thefeatures, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.

Virtualization environment 2100, comprises general-purpose orspecial-purpose network hardware devices 2130 comprising a set of one ormore processors or processing circuitry 2160, which may be commercialoff-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application SpecificIntegrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuitryincluding digital or analog hardware components or special purposeprocessors. Each hardware device may comprise memory 2190-1 which may benon-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 2195 orsoftware executed by processing circuitry 2160. Each hardware device maycomprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 2170, alsoknown as network interface cards, which include physical networkinterface 2180. Each hardware device may also include non-transitory,persistent, machine-readable storage media 2190-2 having stored thereinsoftware 2195 and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry2160. Software 2195 may include any type of software including softwarefor instantiating one or more virtualization layers 2150 (also referredto as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines 2140 as well assoftware allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefitsdescribed in relation with some embodiments described herein.

Virtual machines 2140, comprise virtual processing, virtual memory,virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by acorresponding virtualization layer 2150 or hypervisor. Differentembodiments of the instance of virtual appliance 2120 may be implementedon one or more of virtual machines 2140, and the implementations may bemade in different ways.

During operation, processing circuitry 2160 executes software 2195 toinstantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 2150, which maysometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM).Virtualization layer 2150 may present a virtual operating platform thatappears like networking hardware to virtual machine 2140.

As shown in FIG. 21 , hardware 2130 may be a standalone network nodewith generic or specific components. Hardware 2130 may comprise antenna21225 and may implement some functions via virtualization.Alternatively, hardware 2130 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware(e.g. such as in a data center or customer premise equipment (CPE))where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via managementand orchestration (MANO) 21100, which, among others, oversees lifecyclemanagement of applications 2120.

Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to asnetwork function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidatemany network equipment types onto industry standard high volume serverhardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be locatedin data centers, and customer premise equipment.

In the context of NFV, virtual machine 2140 may be a softwareimplementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they wereexecuting on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of virtualmachines 2140, and that part of hardware 2130 that executes that virtualmachine, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and/orhardware shared by that virtual machine with others of the virtualmachines 2140, forms a separate virtual network elements (VNE).

Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF) isresponsible for handling specific network functions that run in one ormore virtual machines 2140 on top of hardware networking infrastructure2130 and corresponds to application 2120 in FIG. 21 .

In some embodiments, one or more radio units 21200 that each include oneor more transmitters 21220 and one or more receivers 21210 may becoupled to one or more antennas 21225. Radio units 21200 may communicatedirectly with hardware nodes 2130 via one or more appropriate networkinterfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components toprovide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio accessnode or a base station.

In some embodiments, some signalling can be affected with the use ofcontrol system 21230 which may alternatively be used for communicationbetween the hardware nodes 2130 and radio units 21200.

FIG. 22 illustrates a telecommunication network connected via anintermediate network to a host computer according to some embodiments ofinventive concepts. With reference to FIG. 22 , in accordance with anembodiment, a communication system includes telecommunication network2210, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises accessnetwork 2211, such as a radio access network, and core network 2214.Access network 2211 comprises a plurality of base stations 2212 a, 2212b, 2212 c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless accesspoints, each defining a corresponding coverage area 2213 a, 2213 b, 2213c. Each base station 2212 a, 2212 b, 2212 c is connectable to corenetwork 2214 over a wired or wireless connection 2215. A first UE 2291located in coverage area 2213 c is configured to wirelessly connect to,or be paged by, the corresponding base station 2212 c. A second UE 2292in coverage area 2213 a is wirelessly connectable to the correspondingbase station 2212 a. While a plurality of UEs 2291, 2292 are illustratedin this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to asituation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE isconnecting to the corresponding base station 2212.

Telecommunication network 2210 is itself connected to host computer2230, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of astandalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server oras processing resources in a server farm. Host computer 2230 may beunder the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operatedby the service provider or on behalf of the service provider.Connections 2221 and 2222 between telecommunication network 2210 andhost computer 2230 may extend directly from core network 2214 to hostcomputer 2230 or may go via an optional intermediate network 2220.Intermediate network 2220 may be one of, or a combination of more thanone of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network 2220,if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular,intermediate network 2220 may comprise two or more sub-networks (notshown).

The communication system of FIG. 22 as a whole enables connectivitybetween the connected UEs 2291, 2292 and host computer 2230. Theconnectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 2250.Host computer 2230 and the connected UEs 2291, 2292 are configured tocommunicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection 2250, using accessnetwork 2211, core network 2214, any intermediate network 2220 andpossible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTTconnection 2250 may be transparent in the sense that the participatingcommunication devices through which OTT connection 2250 passes areunaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example,base station 2212 may not or need not be informed about the past routingof an incoming downlink communication with data originating from hostcomputer 2230 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE2291. Similarly, base station 2212 need not be aware of the futurerouting of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 2291towards the host computer 2230. FIG. 23 illustrates a host computercommunicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partiallywireless connection according to some embodiments of inventive concepts.Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE,base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphswill now be described with reference to FIG. 23 . In communicationsystem 2300, host computer 2310 comprises hardware 2315 includingcommunication interface 2316 configured to set up and maintain a wiredor wireless connection with an interface of a different communicationdevice of communication system 2300. Host computer 2310 furthercomprises processing circuitry 2318, which may have storage and/orprocessing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry 2318 maycomprise one or more programmable processors, application-specificintegrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations ofthese (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Host computer 2310further comprises software 2311, which is stored in or accessible byhost computer 2310 and executable by processing circuitry 2318. Software2311 includes host application 2312. Host application 2312 may beoperable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE 2330connecting via OTT connection 2350 terminating at UE 2330 and hostcomputer 2310. In providing the service to the remote user, hostapplication 2312 may provide user data which is transmitted using OTTconnection 2350.

Communication system 2300 further includes base station 2320 provided ina telecommunication system and comprising hardware 2325 enabling it tocommunicate with host computer 2310 and with UE 2330. Hardware 2325 mayinclude communication interface 2326 for setting up and maintaining awired or wireless connection with an interface of a differentcommunication device of communication system 2300, as well as radiointerface 2327 for setting up and maintaining at least wirelessconnection 2370 with UE 2330 located in a coverage area (not shown inFIG. 23 ) served by base station 2320. Communication interface 2326 maybe configured to facilitate connection 2360 to host computer 2310.Connection 2360 may be direct or it may pass through a core network (notshown in FIG. 23 ) of the telecommunication system and/or through one ormore intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In theembodiment shown, hardware 2325 of base station 2320 further includesprocessing circuitry 2328, which may comprise one or more programmableprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmablegate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to executeinstructions. Base station 2320 further has software 2321 storedinternally or accessible via an external connection.

Communication system 2300 further includes UE 2330 already referred to.Its hardware 2335 may include radio interface 2337 configured to set upand maintain wireless connection 2370 with a base station serving acoverage area in which UE 2330 is currently located. Hardware 2335 of UE2330 further includes processing circuitry 2338, which may comprise oneor more programmable processors, application-specific integratedcircuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (notshown) adapted to execute instructions. UE 2330 further comprisessoftware 2331, which is stored in or accessible by UE 2330 andexecutable by processing circuitry 2338. Software 2331 includes clientapplication 2332. Client application 2332 may be operable to provide aservice to a human or non-human user via UE 2330, with the support ofhost computer 2310. In host computer 2310, an executing host application2312 may communicate with the executing client application 2332 via OTTconnection 2350 terminating at UE 2330 and host computer 2310. Inproviding the service to the user, client application 2332 may receiverequest data from host application 2312 and provide user data inresponse to the request data. OTT connection 2350 may transfer both therequest data and the user data. Client application 2332 may interactwith the user to generate the user data that it provides.

It is noted that host computer 2310, base station 2320 and UE 2330illustrated in FIG. 23 may be similar or identical to host computer2230, one of base stations 2212 a, 2212 b, 2212 c and one of UEs 2291,2292 of FIG. 22 , respectively. This is to say, the inner workings ofthese entities may be as shown in FIG. 23 and independently, thesurrounding network topology may be that of FIG. 22 .

In FIG. 23 , OTT connection 2350 has been drawn abstractly to illustratethe communication between host computer 2310 and UE 2330 via basestation 2320, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices andthe precise routing of messages via these devices. Networkinfrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured tohide from UE 2330 or from the service provider operating host computer2310, or both. While OTT connection 2350 is active, the networkinfrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamicallychanges the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing considerationor reconfiguration of the network).

Wireless connection 2370 between UE 2330 and base station 2320 is inaccordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve theperformance of OTT services provided to UE 2330 using OTT connection2350, in which wireless connection 2370 forms the last segment. Moreprecisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the latencyand power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as betterresponsiveness and extended battery lifetime.

A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoringdata rate, latency and other factors on which the one or moreembodiments improve. There may further be an optional networkfunctionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 2350 between hostcomputer 2310 and UE 2330, in response to variations in the measurementresults. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality forreconfiguring OTT connection 2350 may be implemented in software 2311and hardware 2315 of host computer 2310 or in software 2331 and hardware2335 of UE 2330, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may bedeployed in or in association with communication devices through whichOTT connection 2350 passes; the sensors may participate in themeasurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantitiesexemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities fromwhich software 2311, 2331 may compute or estimate the monitoredquantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection 2350 may include messageformat, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; thereconfiguring need not affect base station 2320, and it may be unknownor imperceptible to base station 2320. Such procedures andfunctionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certainembodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signalingfacilitating host computer 2310's measurements of throughput,propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may beimplemented in that software 2311 and 2331 causes messages to betransmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTTconnection 2350 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating methods implemented in acommunication system including a host computer, a base station and auser equipment, in accordance with some embodiments. The communicationsystem includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may bethose described with reference to FIGS. 22 and 23 . For simplicity ofthe present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 24 will beincluded in this section. In step 2410, the host computer provides userdata. In substep 2411 (which may be optional) of step 2410, the hostcomputer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step2420, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user datato the UE. In step 2430 (which may be optional), the base stationtransmits to the UE the user data which was carried in the transmissionthat the host computer initiated, in accordance with the teachings ofthe embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 2440(which may also be optional), the UE executes a client applicationassociated with the host application executed by the host computer.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart illustrating methods implemented in acommunication system including a host computer, a base station and auser equipment, in accordance with some embodiments. The communicationsystem includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may bethose described with reference to FIGS. 22 and 23 . For simplicity ofthe present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 25 will beincluded in this section. In step 2510 of the method, the host computerprovides user data. In an optional substep (not shown) the host computerprovides the user data by executing a host application. In step 2520,the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to theUE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordance withthe teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.In step 2530 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user datacarried in the transmission.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system including a host computer, a base station and auser equipment, in accordance with one embodiment. The communicationsystem includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may bethose described with reference to FIGS. 22 and 23 . For simplicity ofthe present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 26 will beincluded in this section. In step 2610 (which may be optional), the UEreceives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally, oralternatively, in step 2620, the UE provides user data. In substep 2621(which may be optional) of step 2620, the UE provides the user data byexecuting a client application. In substep 2611 (which may be optional)of step 2610, the UE executes a client application which provides theuser data in reaction to the received input data provided by the hostcomputer. In providing the user data, the executed client applicationmay further consider user input received from the user. Regardless ofthe specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UEinitiates, in substep 2630 (which may be optional), transmission of theuser data to the host computer. In step 2640 of the method, the hostcomputer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, in accordancewith the teachings of the embodiments described throughout thisdisclosure.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system including a host computer, a base station and auser equipment, in accordance with some embodiments. The communicationsystem includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may bethose described with reference to FIGS. 22 and 23 . For simplicity ofthe present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 27 will beincluded in this section. In step 2710 (which may be optional), inaccordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. Instep 2720 (which may be optional), the base station initiatestransmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step2730 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user datacarried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefitsdisclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional unitsor modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatusmay comprise a number of these functional units. These functional unitsmay be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one ormore microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digitalhardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs),special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitrymay be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which mayinclude one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM),random-access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, opticalstorage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes programinstructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or datacommunications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one ormore of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, theprocessing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unitto perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

At least some of the following abbreviations may be used in thisdisclosure. If there is an inconsistency between abbreviations,preference should be given to how it is used above. If listed multipletimes below, the first listing should be preferred over any subsequentlisting(s).

-   -   1x RTT CDMA2000 1x Radio Transmission Technology    -   3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project    -   5G 5th Generation    -   5GS 5G System    -   SGMM 5GS Mobility Management    -   SGSM 5GS Session Management    -   5QI 5G QoS Identifier    -   ABS Almost Blank Subframe    -   AMF Access and Mobility Management Function    -   AN Access Network    -   AN Access Node    -   ARQ Automatic Repeat Request    -   AS Access Stratum    -   AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise    -   BCCH Broadcast Control Channel    -   BCH Broadcast Channel    -   CA Carrier Aggregation    -   CC Carrier Component    -   CCCH SDU Common Control Channel SDU    -   CDMA Code Division Multiplexing Access    -   CGI Cell Global Identifier    -   CIR Channel Impulse Response    -   CP Cyclic Prefix    -   CPICH Common Pilot Channel    -   CPICH Ec/No CPICH Received energy per chip divided by the power        density in the band    -   CQI Channel Quality information    -   C-RNTI Cell RNTI    -   CSI Channel State Information    -   DCCH Dedicated Control Channel    -   DL Downlink    -   DM Demodulation    -   DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal    -   DNN Data Network Name    -   DRX Discontinuous Reception    -   DTX Discontinuous Transmission    -   DTCH Dedicated Traffic Channel    -   DUT Device Under Test    -   E-CID Enhanced Cell-ID (positioning method)    -   E-SMLC Evolved-Serving Mobile Location Centre    -   ECGI Evolved CGI    -   eNB E-UTRAN NodeB    -   ePDCCH enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel    -   EPS Evolved Packet System    -   E-SMLC evolved Serving Mobile Location Center    -   E-UTRA Evolved UTRA    -   E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN    -   FDD Frequency Division Duplex    -   FFS For Further Study    -   GERAN GSM EDGE Radio Access Network    -   gNB Base station in NR (corresponding to eNB in LTE)    -   GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System    -   GSM Global System for Mobile communication    -   HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request    -   HO Handover    -   HSPA High Speed Packet Access    -   HRPD High Rate Packet Data    -   LOS Line of Sight    -   LPP LTE Positioning Protocol    -   LTE Long-Term Evolution    -   MAC Medium Access Control    -   MBMS Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services    -   MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single Frequency        Network    -   MBSFN ABS MBSFN Almost Blank Subframe    -   MDT Minimization of Drive Tests    -   MIB Master Information Block    -   MME Mobility Management Entity    -   MSC Mobile Switching Center    -   NAS Non-Access Stratum    -   NB-IoT Narrowband Internet of Things    -   NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel    -   NR New Radio    -   OCNG OFDMA Channel Noise Generator    -   OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing    -   OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access    -   OSS Operations Support System    -   OTDOA Observed Time Difference of Arrival    -   O&M Operation and Maintenance    -   PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel    -   P-CCPCH Primary Common Control Physical Channel    -   PCell Primary Cell    -   PCFICH Physical Control Format Indicator Channel    -   PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel    -   PDP Profile Delay Profile    -   PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel    -   PGW Packet Gateway    -   PHICH Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel    -   PLMN Public Land Mobile Network    -   PMI Precoder Matrix Indicator    -   PRACH Physical Random Access Channel    -   PRS Positioning Reference Signal    -   PSS Primary Synchronization Signal    -   PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel    -   PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel    -   RACH Random Access Channel    -   QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation    -   RAN Radio Access Network    -   RAT Radio Access Technology    -   RLM Radio Link Management    -   RNC Radio Network Controller    -   RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier    -   RRC Radio Resource Control    -   RRM Radio Resource Management    -   RS Reference Signal    -   RSCP Received Signal Code Power    -   RSRP Reference Symbol Received Power OR Reference Signal        Received Power    -   RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality OR Reference Symbol        Received Quality    -   RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator    -   RSTD Reference Signal Time Difference    -   SCH Synchronization Channel    -   SCell Secondary Cell    -   SDU Service Data Unit    -   SFN System Frame Number    -   SGW Serving Gateway    -   SI System Information    -   SIB System Information Block    -   SMSoIP Short Message Service (SMS) over IP    -   SNR Signal to Noise Ratio    -   SON Self Optimized Network    -   SS Synchronization Signal    -   SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal    -   TDD Time Division Duplex    -   TDOA Time Difference of Arrival    -   TOA Time of Arrival    -   TSS Tertiary Synchronization Signal    -   TTI Transmission Time Interval    -   UAC Unified Access Control    -   UE User Equipment    -   UL Uplink    -   UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System    -   USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module    -   UTDOA Uplink Time Difference of Arrival    -   UTRA Universal Terrestrial Radio Access    -   UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network    -   WCDMA Wide CDMA    -   WLAN Wide Local Area Network

1. A method of operating a user equipment (UE) for new radio (NR)unified access control, the method comprising: determining an accesscategory from a plurality of access categories and at least one accessidentity of the UE from a plurality of access identities to be appliedfor an access attempt; determining an establishment cause for the accessattempt based on the access category determined from the plurality ofaccess categories and based on the at least one access identity from theplurality of access identities; and transmitting a connection requestmessage for the access attempt to a wireless communication network,wherein the connection request message includes the establishment causedetermined based on the access category and based on the at least oneaccess identity.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the establishmentcause comprises one of a plurality of establishment causes includingmobile terminated access, emergency call, mobile originated signalling,mobile originated voice call, mobile originated data, and high priorityaccess.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the establishment cause isdetermined based on the access category and based on the at least oneaccess identity as being one of the mobile terminated access, theemergency call, the mobile originated signalling, the mobile originatedvoice call, and/or the mobile originated data based on mapping theaccess category determined from the plurality of access categories tothe establishment cause.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein theestablishment cause is determined based on the mapping of the accesscategory determined from the plurality of categories to theestablishment cause and based on the at least one access identity forthe UE being zero.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the plurality ofaccess categories comprises an operator defined access category.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the operator defined access category is basedon at least one of a data network name and a slice identifier.
 7. Themethod of claim 5 further comprising: receiving the operator definedaccess category from the wireless communication network.
 8. The methodof claim 5 , wherein determining the access category and the at leastone access identity comprises determining that the operator definedaccess category is to be applied for the access attempt, and wherein theestablishment cause is determined based on the mapping of the operatordefined access category to the establishment cause.
 9. The method ofclaim 8 , wherein the operator defined access category is based on atleast one of a data network name and a slice identifier, and wherein themapping of the operator defined access category comprises mapping theoperator defined access category to the establishment cause for mobileoriginated data.
 10. The method of claim 2, wherein the establishmentcause is determined as being high priority access based on the at leastone access identity for the UE being non-zero.
 11. The method of claim 1further comprising: performing an access barring check for the accessattempt based on the access category determined from the plurality ofaccess categories and based on the at least one access identity from theplurality of access identities; and proceeding with the access attemptresponsive to the access barring check authorizing the access attemptattempts.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting theaccess attempt, wherein the access category is determined based on theaccess attempt.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the access attemptis detected based on at least one of establishing a new protocol dataunit (PDU) session, setting up a voice call, and setting up a videocall.
 14. A user equipment (UE) for new radio (NR) unified accesscontrol, the UE comprising: a radio interface; processing circuitrycoupled with the radio interface; and a device readable medium coupledwith the processing circuitry, wherein the device readable mediumcomprises instructions that when executed by the processing circuitrycause the processing circuitry to: determine an access category from aplurality of access categories and at least one access identity of theUE from a plurality of access identities to be applied for an accessattempt; determine an establishment cause for the access attempt basedon the access category determined from the plurality of accesscategories and based on the at least one access identity from theplurality of access identities; and transmit a connection requestmessage for the access attempt to a wireless communication network,wherein the connection request message includes the establishment causedetermined based on the access category and based on the at least oneaccess identity.
 15. The UE of claim 14, wherein the establishment causecomprises one of a plurality of establishment causes including mobileterminated access, emergency call, mobile originated signalling, mobileoriginated voice call, mobile originated data, and high priority access.16. The UE of claim 15, wherein the establishment cause is determinedbased on the access category and based on the at least one accessidentity as being one of the mobile terminated access, the emergencycall, the mobile originated signalling, the mobile originated voicecall, and/or the mobile originated data based on mapping the accesscategory determined from the plurality of access categories to theestablishment cause.
 17. The UE of claim 16, wherein the establishmentcause is determined based on mapping the access category determined fromthe plurality of categories to the establishment cause and based on theat least one access identify identity for the UE being zero.
 18. The UEof claim 16, wherein the plurality of access categories comprises anoperator defined access category.
 19. The UE of claim 18, wherein theoperator defined access category is based on at least one of a datanetwork name and a slice identifier.
 20. The UE of claim 18 wherein thedevice readable medium further comprises instructions that when executedby the processing circuitry cause the processing circuitry to: receivethe operator defined access category from the wireless communicationnetwork.